Of course, situation being as interesting as it turned out to be – superior Austrians being defeated by French, I had to give it a go as French as well. This time however, my strategy differed from that of my opponent. First, I wanted to concentrate my forces to as narrow front as possible – some sort of early version of a spearhead, punch a hole on the enemy line, and then exploit the local success. with fresh reserve troops.

So, I formed up in dense columns, cavalry at the wings to keep the enemy on their toes. Center, supported by arillery would first advance to the ridge, and then charge down to the unformed lines below. Should all go well, French would beat life out of the Austrian formation before they could retreat and recover from the shock.

It is remarkable that it was pretty much what happened – and not least because of the poor Austrian commanders. Austrian player being (like myself earlier) was way too eager to attempt two or more activations in turn – which quite often turned out to be double failures that finish the brigade activations for the turn. Issues of command were of course multiplied by very poor commanders, that could not lead from anywhere except from the rear and therefore every battalion were on their own quite soon.

Game ended with disaster to Austria, albeit some battalions in the centre made heroic effort. All too little, too late.